Chapter 23: Looting
The northern army was approaching, far faster than anticipated. After realizing this, Su Xiao had Amu dig a pit to bury Alexsand's corpse before hurrying toward Arans City.
Xi was nearby, but she was traveling with the northern cavalry, so Su Xiao had Bubu Wang monitor her to avoid losing track of Xi.
Along the way, Su Xiao saw many fleeing civilians. Though they didn't know the northern alliance was attacking, food prices in Arans City had skyrocketed, and the city gates had been sealed since morning.
To prevent civil unrest, Lady Moon Wolf ordered that Arans City allow exits but no entries, which prevented large-scale panic.
Sera wasn't the only safe haven. There were many small kingdoms on the Eastern Continent. Fleeing to them would mean hardship, but it would avoid the calamity of war.
As soon as Su Xiao arrived at the gates of Arans, he found them packed with city guards. Over a dozen ballistae were lined up side by side, and atop the city wall, a guard stood every half meter.
"Halt!"
Several guards wielding long weapons blocked the way. Su Xiao produced his Duke's insignia, and the guard unit immediately let him through.
Su Xiao led Amu and Baha through the city gate. As they entered the gate tunnel, a cold wind blew, carrying a few crumpled banknotes. These were Sera's currency, gold notes. The craftsmanship wasn't exquisite, but they were quite difficult to counterfeit, as the seal was made using a special technique.
Seeing those crumpled notes on the ground, Su Xiao knew that Sera's economic system had collapsed. Paper money had become worthless; only gold-plated or pure gold coins could still circulate.
The reason Sera's economy collapsed so quickly was that several neighboring major cities had been breached, cutting off trade and transportation, causing prices to skyrocket.
After prices soared, civilians began hoarding food and daily necessities. If the Holy Court didn't intervene, supplies within Arans City would be depleted in no time. Then prices would rise further, and the currency would continue to depreciate.
When inflation reached its limit, the empire's economic system would burst like a balloon. The "representative of value"—paper money—would instantly become worthless. The method of transaction would suffer a "dimensional reduction" strike, shifting from currency exchange to bartering.
On the streets of Arans City, the usually clean roads were now littered with household waste. In fact, a corpse hung in front of a tailor's shop.
A rotten wooden sign hung from the corpse's foot, inscribed with the words "Crime of Plunder."
"This is... too fast. Arans City seemed normal yesterday, just with crazy food prices."
Baha remarked. It was his first time witnessing an empire's decline.
In reality, the Sera Empire's situation was relatively mild. The towering tree of Sera was indeed rotten, but its residents had a high level of happiness. Civilians at most criticized the rulers over tea, rather than gathering for large-scale riots.
The only feeling the streets gave off now was desolation. A new empire, a new order, was coming.
After walking for less than half an hour, Su Xiao reached the Holy Court district. He wandered around until he arrived before a courtyard.
Several carriages were parked in front of the courtyard, tied down with boxes of various sizes. Some boxes clearly contained valuables.
"Hurry! The gates will be completely sealed at 10 o'clock."
"Watch it! This is the king's property! Are you blind?!"
Servants bustled in and out, loading goods onto the carriages. Not far away, a noblewoman waited anxiously.
"Amu, kill anyone who blocks us."
As he spoke, Su Xiao leaped onto a carriage and tore through the ropes binding the cargo.
Opening a large iron chest, he saw various jewels and gold ornaments. He shoved the chest off the carriage, and the jewelry scattered everywhere with a clatter.
This stunned the surrounding servants. The noblewoman was also momentarily dazed, then seemed about to laugh in anger.
"Kill them. Be quick. Don't waste too much time..."
Before the noblewoman could finish, Amu grabbed her head and twisted it. For a Holy Descendant, this wasn't fatal.
Crack~
The noblewoman's body stiffened. The next moment, she grabbed Amu's arm.
"Ee-yah~"
She let out a strange shriek, then—
Bang, bang, bang...
After a storm of pounding, the noblewoman lay motionless in a pit. Amu finished her off with a hammer blow, and she went cold.
Su Xiao's principle was: either don't make enemies, or if you do, leave no survivors. Some seemingly weak enemies could grow strong, leading to endless trouble later.
After searching several carriages, Su Xiao found an Epic-grade bracelet called [Delusion of All Beings]. It was a Charm-type piece of equipment that greatly increased the duration of charm abilities and boosted True Charm Attribute.
Su Xiao had no charm abilities. As for the equipment boosting his Charm Attribute, he ignored it. He couldn't wear it, so any Charm boost was meaningless.
Besides [Delusion of All Beings], Su Xiao also found 12 Soul Crystals (Medium) and 5 Soul Crystals (Large). Aside from these, there were no other gains.
Su Xiao crossed the courtyard's stone path and entered a three-story building. This was the former residence of Holy Descendant King Alexsand.
The building was empty. Su Xiao had Baha search the first and second floors, while Amu just stood watch.
Su Xiao went straight to the third floor. After searching all the rooms, he determined there was nothing of value here after over ten minutes.
As he descended the stairs, he saw Baha flying toward him.
"Found something good."
Baha was clutching a crimson scroll. It landed on Su Xiao's shoulder. As soon as Su Xiao took the scroll, his eyes lit up.
[You have obtained: Bloody Trial.]
[Bloody Trial]
Origin: Sixth Rank Primordial World
Quality: Holy Spirit Rank
Type: Auxiliary Scroll (Extremely Rare)
Remaining Uses: 1/2.
Prerequisite: Willpower 80+ (Met), Soul Strength 73+ (Met).
Warning: If prerequisites are not met, forcibly using this scroll will result in permanent madness!
Effect: After use, assists in improving basic skills.
Tip: The duration of 'Bloody Trial' is adaptive.
Tip: After using 'Bloody Trial,' the user must engage in high-intensity combat to improve basic skill levels. The improvement depends on the method of use.
Rating: 998 points (Holy Spirit item rating: 700–1000 points)
Description: If you dare not face death, how can you possibly transcend?
Price: 596,000 Paradise Coins.
Seeing the properties of [Bloody Trial], Su Xiao immediately thought of using it to improve Blade Grandmaster.
If he used it and did nothing, the improvement to his blade skills would be negligible. But if he fought a strong enemy... no, that wasn't feasible.
In Su Xiao's view, using this item in a one-on-one fight with a strong opponent was suicide. However, if facing a large number of enemies, this item would be valuable. After all, it was an auxiliary scroll; how much it improved depended on the situation.
This was an unexpected gain. Su Xiao had already confirmed that the "Space-Time Hub Device" wasn't in Alexsand's hands, meaning it wasn't in the Sera Empire. The remaining locations were only the Abyss and the Northern Alliance.